Chinese officials have arrested and detained a Christian couple from Canada on grounds of the suspected theft of intelligence information.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday that Kevin and Julia Dawn Garratt, who have lived in China since 1984, are suspected of "collecting and stealing intelligence materials related to Chinese military targets and important Chinese national defence scientific research programmes, and engaging in activities that endanger China's national security."

The couple were arrested in the city of Dandong, where they run a coffee shop, on Monday evening, and their three grown-up children have not heard from them since....